Under the newly broadened copyright exemption laws granted by the U.S. Copyright Office and Library of Congress, filmmakers no longer have to request permission or make payments to copyright owners for the use of DVD, Blu-ray and streaming services for the purpose of criticism and comment, even if the film contains fictional elements. According to Chris Perez in Daily Journal’s article “Broadened Exemptions Stand to Help Filmmakers With Copyrights,” these exemptions mark a huge win for the independent film industry. Perez, Partner Michael Donaldson and Professor Jack Lerner were behind securing this monumental win.

The exemption to fiction films “was absolutely necessary,” Chris said, as narrative filmmakers have grown tremendously in the past few years. “I’m immensely overjoyed that we were able to establish that at the hearings earlier this year and obtain a favorable ruling granting broader exemptions.”

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